Congress MLA, Panaji Mayor among 3 booked for molesting woman
Panaji: Newly-elected Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserratte of the Congress and city Mayor Uday Madkaikar are among three persons booked by the police for allegedly molesting a woman during an anti-encroachment drive, police said on Saturday.
The Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) has undertaken a drive to clear encroachments of off-shore casinos anchored in the river Mandovi.
One of the off-shore casinos had allegedly encroached on a footpath and workers of the civic body had gone to the spot Friday to clear it. Monserratte, Madkaikar and former Panaji Mayor Yatin Parekh were accompanying them.
The complainant woman, who was part of the group which opposed the demolition of a staircase constructed by the off- shore casino operator, alleged that Monserratte, Madkaikar and Parekh touched her inappropriately, abused her and outraged her modesty, police said.
"In her complaint lodged late last night, the woman also alleged that all the accused threatened to kill her," Panaji police sub inspector Arun Abhay Gawas Desai said.
Based on her complaint, the trio was booked under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt),354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), for outraging modesty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), police said.
When contacted, Monserratte claimed that no such incident has happened. He said that he was present at the site only to oversee the demolition work being conducted by the civic body.
"None of the persons named in the complaint were involved in any such action of outraging modesty," he said.
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'Betrayal of people's mandate': Tejashwi on Nitish's Rajya Sabha entry
Patna (PTI): RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to enter the Rajya Sabha was a "betrayal" of the people's mandate.
Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, alleged the BJP has always been opposed to Dalits and OBCs, and with Kumar leaving the CM's post, it will seek to implement its agenda in the socialist stronghold.
"The BJP has done a Maharashtra in Bihar," he said.
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"We have been saying from the very beginning that the BJP will not let Nitish Kumar remain the chief minister after the elections. This is exactly what has happened. This development is against the mandate of the people and amounts to a betrayal of it," he said.
Alleging that the BJP had "hijacked" Kumar, Yadav said that was the reason the veteran leader was now moving to the Rajya Sabha.
"BJP is against OBCs and Dalits. They never want a leader from these communities to occupy the top post. They want a chief minister who will function like a rubber stamp for the top BJP leadership," he alleged.
"I had said -- 'Nitish ji ko ghoda toh chadhaya hai dulha banake, lekin phera kisi aur ke saath dila raha hai' (They made Nitish Kumar mount the horse like a groom, but are getting someone else to take the wedding vows)," he added.
Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister, filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls, paving the way for the first BJP-led government in the state.
